Daijiworld Media Network – Chennai
Chennai, Jul 1: In a major breakthrough for anti-terror operations in South India, the Tamil Nadu Police Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Tuesday arrested Abubacker Siddique, the state’s most wanted terrorist, from a remote hideout in Andhra Pradesh, nearly three decades after he went underground.
Siddique (60), a native of Nagore, was arrested along with Mohammed Ali alias Yunus or Mansoor, another long-time fugitive, from Annamayya district following a high-level intelligence operation. Both were wanted in multiple terror-related cases and had evaded capture for years.
According to senior officials, Siddique was a radical ideologue and expert bomb-maker who mentored several key terror operatives including Bilal Malik, ‘Police’ Fakruddin, and Panna Ismail. He carried a reward of Rs 5 lac on his head and is believed to be the mastermind behind several high-profile attacks in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states.
Siddique’s trail of terror dates back to 1995, when he was involved in the deadly bombing at the Hindu Munnani office in Chintadripet, Chennai, and a parcel bomb blast in Nagore that claimed the life of a man named Thangam. He was also behind a series of coordinated bomb-planting attempts across Chennai, Coimbatore, Trichy, and parts of Kerala in 1999, including a foiled attempt to target the Chennai Police Commissioner’s Office.
Investigators further linked Siddique to the failed assassination attempt on former deputy prime minister L K Advani during his Rath Yatra in Madurai in 2011 and the 2012 murder of Dr Arvind Reddy in Vellore. He was also implicated in the 2013 bomb blast near the BJP office in Malleswaram, Bengaluru.
His associate, Mohammed Ali, hails from Melapalayam in Tirunelveli and had been on the run for 26 years. He is also accused in the 1999 multi-location bombing conspiracy. Both operatives are believed to have played active roles in inciting communal unrest and targeting political and religious leaders.
Their arrests are being seen as a significant milestone in dismantling long-dormant sleeper cells and are expected to aid progress in several stalled investigations. Authorities said Siddique and Ali will be produced before a magistrate and remanded to custody, with interrogation likely to reveal critical intelligence about terror networks operating in southern India.
Senior police officials praised the coordinated inter-state effort and described the operation as a major morale booster for law enforcement. They reiterated their commitment to cracking down on extremist threats and ensuring public safety across the region.